Convincing Arguments for the Existence of God

[betrys]

I've always liked to think of myself as a rational, critically thinking individual. In any given situation, I attempt to find the most logical solution to promote the best outcome--and usually, everything turns out pretty well.
It is this quality, unfortunately, that makes it difficult for me to accept God on faith alone.

Don't get me wrong--I try. I try every day to believe. Some days I do better than others. I want to have complete faith in the Lord, but I would be lying to myself and to Him if I pretended. I cannot simply MAKE myself have faith.

So instead, I've delved into the exciting and mystifying world of Christian Apologetics. I've come across varied and intriguing arguments for one of humanities greatest quandaries: "is there a God?"

I know I'm not the only one that struggles in this area. Many of us have trouble reconciling our supernatural beliefs with the natural world around us. Hopefully, this thread could help anyone, including myself, who is trying to develop a closer and more trusting relationship with Jesus Christ.

So, let's share.

I'm curious, CC: What do you believe is the BEST argument for the existence of God?

 

[aprilandkeion]

it really depends on your faith because faith is believing what you dont see, that is your decision...its a waste of time for me to argue with an atheist.

ISAIAH 59:1" Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt. Your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue mutters wicked things.

 

[Chadtreme]

Well, I know theirs God. I felt him And so have many others . When I got baptized I felt him make me new. I felt him at the alter. God is real. Before I got baptize I didnt know what to believe. I was confused but I stayed going to church because I really did want to To find God. When I got baptized and I felt God make me new, thats. When I really did believe. I came up out the water saying theres a God.

But their really no point to argue, God's real. N if Yu real do seek him. He will show himself to you.

 

[rainacorn]

You're really only going to get personal experiences as responses. As the song goes- "If you ask me how I know He lives, He lives within my heart."

That's not an ideal answer for someone looking for a logical explanation lol


I think you're actually on the right track here. Wanting to believe in something is a great first step to actually believing in something. The next step would be living as if it were true.

Not everyone is a fan of "Fake it 'til you make it" but there is actually scientific research backing that up (and the Bible speaks of this... having a small measure of faith and it increasing). Your brain has an amazing ability to remap itself to accept new information as 'true.' You can literally change your worldview if you really want to.

For me, it started with an honest application of Occam's Razor. What's more likely? That there's a massive conspiracy of deception that's been carefully calculated and executed from generation to generation for thousands of years across the entire world? Or that the things in the Bible really happened?

If the entire Bible were written in one sitting at one time by one person (like the Qur'an was), then there is certainly reasonable room for doubt. A single person being deceptive and having a personal agenda is downright common. However, that's not the story of the Bible and it actually seems quite UNreasonable to think that it is entirely fraudulent and intends to deceive.

That was my starting point. From there, I read the Bible and studied it carefully. If it's likely to be true (or at lest more likely than not), then I wanted to make sure I read it and really understood what it was saying. With it being such a massive compilation of writings, you can't read it as a single book. There are so many things to consider that just enhance your understanding and ability to apply it to your life. It's the story of God's relationship with humanity and the struggles we have maintaining a relationship with Him. Since I started reading it seriously with the intent of trying to understand, I have yet to come across something that betrays reality.

Meanwhile, I began attending a church and participating in worship services. This was also done because I understood the science. Singing in groups and participating in worship services releases hormones that relax you and make you less anxious while increasing your feeling of trust and community. I also know that a belief needs to be shared and reinforced if it's really going to stick. Science + Bible. It's all true, man. I surrounded myself with other Christians from various walks of life and I did the song and dance. Went through the motions. Next thing I know, I'm a full on Christian, openly making confessions of faith and feeling zero conflict about it.

It takes time...and it takes a real desire. I wanted to become a Christian because I believed it would be a better way to live my life. I thought it was probably the best chance I would have at having a good, lasting marriage and raising children in the right way. I saw it as the only real antidote to the poison of society that was dooming me to repeat the mistakes of the people around me. I wasn't sure if I would ever really believe it's all true and there really is a God who created everything and Jesus died for my sins. I wasn't sure if those doubts could ever go away. But they did, and I do really believe it.

I don't look back at my time as an unbeliever as wasted time. I don't look back and think 'how could I have been so stupid.' I look back and think 'man, I was really arrogant. I'm in a much better place now.' And while I know with great certainty that I made the conscious choice to pursue Christianity and a Christian way of life, there's no doubt in my mind that God called me first and I am not saved by my own doing.

It cannot really be explained. It is to be experienced.

 

[shawntc]

Apologetics is awesome. If not for it, I might possibly be an agnostic right now.

Once you start researching this stuff more, you'll come across several arguments for God's existence. For me the most compelling ones are the teleological argument, kalam cosmological argument, and the resurrection of Jesus argument. The best argument for God's existence is probably the kalam, but the resurrection of Jesus gives you a direct path to the God of Christianity.

 

[shawntc]

EDIT: If you want to dig deeply into apologetics, I have a few websites I strongly recommend:
Reasonable Faith, the site of professor William Lane Craig. I've studied much of his work, it's amazing.
Reasons to Believe, led by astrophysicist Hugh Ross. It shows how latest scientific discoveries show God's existence.
Please Convince Me
Lee Strobel.com, the site of a journalist who found the Bible to be historically reliable. He's become an apologetic author. He talked to me on Twitter!
GotQuestions.org, a site that has answers for all sorts of objections to Christianity.

There's more, but I don't want to overwhelm you with too much information right away.

 

[jimmydiggs]

Presuppositionalism, is very important to know and apply in Epistemology.

 

[Spartacus1122]

The inability for science to create Life out of nothing.

Notice how I spelled Life with a capital "L", meaning the very force/energy that is within all living organisms.
Scientists can gather all the enzymes and "ingredients" needed to replicate the creation of Life in its simplest forms, but they still would not be able to.

Ironically, even if they were to succeed someday, they would actually prove the Intelligent Design theory, since they had to intervene in order to create Life in the first place.

 

[Ariel82]

What do you believe is the BEST argument for the existence of WIND?

can you see it? Yet you see the results after a tornado or hurricane.

how about for GRAVITY?

the best argument for GOD is creation itself...

Psalm 19

King James Version (KJV)

19 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.
2 Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.
3 There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.
4 Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,
5 Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.
6 His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.
7 The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
8 The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.